SHAH ALAM, July 21 — A total of 14 million doses of Sinovac vaccine will be sold by Pharmaniaga Bhd to interested states and private companies from this month until September, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said the sale of the vaccine directly to interested parties had received the approval of the COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV), could further expedite efforts to achieve herd immunity earlier than scheduled.
“States are also interested in buying directly, for example Selangor which has long asked for vaccine to be sold directly to them but this committee has its own programme schedule, and that is why we can’t give directly,” he said at a press conference today.
Earlier, Ismail Sabri witnessed the handing over of the last batch of Sinovac vaccine to Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba who represented the government by Pharmaniaga group managing director Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope.
He said Pharmaniaga had managed to supply 12 million doses of Sinovac vaccine four and a half months ahead of the original contract schedule and on July 19, the government had agreed to purchase another two million doses of Sinovac to cover Operation Surge Capacity.
